Wheat flour composition and method for producing cooked food using the same

Abstract

To provide a wheat flour composition that does not require granulation and that can prevent scattering of powder when used by sprinkling it on ingredients, and to provide a method for producing cooked foods using the same. [Solution] A wheat flour composition for use as a coating on ingredients, comprising (1) wheat flour A having an average particle size of 200 to 400 μm and a bulk density of 0.6 to 0.8, and (2) wheat flour B having an average particle size of 50 to 75 μm, a crude protein content of 8.0 to 10.0% by mass, and an ash content of 0.4% by mass or more. Also provided is a method for producing a cooked food using the same.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a wheat flour composition used to coat ingredients to prepare cooked foods such as fried foods. [Background technology]

[0002] The manufacturing process for fried foods such as fried chicken often involves coating meat, fish, and other ingredients with flour or other coating materials. This process can cause problems, such as the scattering of coating powder, which can worsen the working environment. Furthermore, workers may inhale the scattered coating powder, which can have an adverse effect on their health.

[0003] Regarding technology for preventing scattering of dusting powder containing wheat flour and the like, for example, Patent Document 1 describes granular tempura flour obtained by uniformly mixing all of the main ingredients such as flour and starch and the secondary ingredients such as leavening agents and emulsifiers, and then granulating the mixture, with the aim of providing tempura flour that does not undergo layer separation of the raw material ingredients during distribution, has excellent fluidity, does not become powdery, and dissolves well in water when forming batter. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-033142 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the granular tempura flour described in Patent Document 1 has problems in that the granulation process is time-consuming and costly. Also, it is necessary to add ingredients such as leavening agents and emulsifiers, which can affect the texture and flavor of cooked foods made using the granular tempura flour.

[0006] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a wheat flour composition that does not require a granulation process and that can prevent the scattering of powder when used to coat ingredients, and also to provide a method for producing a cooked food using the same. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present inventors have conducted extensive research to achieve the above object and have completed the present invention.

[0008] That is, the present invention employs the following configuration. [1] A flour composition for use by sprinkling ingredients, comprising flour A having the properties of (1) below and flour B having the properties of (2) below. (1) Average particle size is 200 μm or more and 400 μm or less, and bulk density is 0.6 or more and 0.8 or less. (2) Average particle size of 50 μm or more and 75 μm or less, crude protein content of 8.0 mass% or more and 10.0 mass% or less, and ash content of 0.4 mass% or more. [2] The flour composition according to [1] above, wherein the mass ratio of the flour A to the flour B is 5:95 to 50:50. [3] The flour composition according to [1] or [2] above, wherein the flour A is flour derived from durum wheat. [4] The flour composition according to [1] or [2] above, wherein the flour B is derived from a wheat raw material containing Australian wheat, and the content of the Australian wheat in 100 parts by mass of the raw wheat of the flour B is 60 parts by mass or more. [5] The flour composition according to [1] or [2] above, wherein the flour A satisfies the following conditions (1) to (3): (1) The cumulative volume of particles with particle diameters of less than 148 μm is less than 20% by volume. (2) D50 is 250 μm or more. (3) The relationship between D10, D50, and D90 is expressed by the following formula. (D90-D10) / D50 < 1.0 [6] The flour composition according to [1] or [2] above, which comprises the flour A and the flour B, satisfies the following conditions (1) to (3): (1) The cumulative volume of particles with particle diameters of less than 148 μm is 40% by volume or more. (2) D10 is less than 20 μm, D50 is 50 μm or more but less than 200 μm, and D90 is 100 μm or more but less than 400 μm. (3) The relationship between D10, D50, and D90 is expressed by the following formula. (D90-D10) / D50 ≧ 1.8 [7] A method for producing a cooked food, comprising coating an ingredient with the flour composition described in [1] or [2] above, and cooking the ingredient coated with the flour composition. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, a flour composition comprising flour A having specific properties and flour B having other specific properties reduces scattering during handling. Therefore, it can be suitably used, for example, to coat ingredients in the composition and cook them to obtain cooked foods. Furthermore, cooked foods of good quality can be obtained using the composition. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which a mixer 1 was installed to measure the amount of scattered wheat flour composition in Tests 1 to 3. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the bottom and sides of a mixer 1 are covered with black drawing paper 4 in order to measure the amount of scattered wheat flour composition in Tests 1 to 3. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the black drawing paper 4 covering the bottom and sides of the mixer 1 was partially opened in order to measure the amount of scattered wheat flour composition in Tests 1 to 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The present invention will be described in further detail below. In this specification, unless otherwise specified, the term "to" in a numerical range means from above to below, and includes both of the numerical values ​​at both ends. Furthermore, when a numerical range is shown, the upper and lower limits can be appropriately combined, and the resulting numerical range is also considered to be disclosed.

[0012] In this specification, the mean particle size of wheat flour can be determined as MeanV (volume average value) measured in a dry state using a laser diffraction / scattering particle size distribution analyzer or the like. In other words, it refers to the volume average particle size. Examples of laser diffraction / scattering particle size distribution analyzers that can be used include a Microtrac particle size distribution analyzer (Microtrac BELL Corporation).

[0013] In this specification, the bulk density of wheat flour can be measured, for example, as follows.

[0014] Fill a 200cc measuring cup with flour while sieving it through a 20-mesh sieve, then level it off and measure the weight (Xg).

[0015] Bulk density is calculated using the following formula: Bulk density (g / cc) = X / 200 It is calculated as follows.

[0016] In this specification, the crude protein content of wheat flour can be determined, for example, by the calculation method shown below.

[0017] (a) 0.3 g of sample (wheat flour) is weighed out and placed in the Kjeldahl tube of the FOSS Japan Kjeldahl Autosystem, and one tablet of decomposition accelerator and 10 mL of concentrated sulfuric acid are added.

[0018] (b) After carrying out decomposition treatment at 420°C for 1 hour and 30 minutes using a decomposition furnace manufactured by FOSS Japan, the liquid from the decomposition treatment was distilled and titrated using a Keltec distillation and titration system installed in the same Keltec auto system (0.05M sulfuric acid was used for titration).

[0019] Crude protein content is calculated using the following formula: Crude protein content (%)=0.14×(T-Ba)×F×N / S where T = volume (mL) of 0.05M sulfuric acid required for titration Ba = Volume (mL) of 0.05M sulfuric acid required to titrate the medicine paper F = titer of 0.05M sulfuric acid used in titration (measured immediately before use) N = nitrogen protein conversion factor (5.70) S = weight of sample (g) It is calculated as follows.

[0020] In this specification, the ash content of wheat flour refers to the weight percentage of ash when wheat flour is burned to ash, and is measured, for example, by the following method. Approximately 5 g of wheat flour is weighed out on a top-pan balance and placed in a platinum crucible (constant weight: W0) that has been pre-baked at 900°C for 1 hour and allowed to cool in a desiccator for approximately 25 minutes. The weight (W1) is then measured. The crucible containing the sample is then placed in a muffle furnace and incinerated at 900°C for 3 hours. After 3 hours, the crucible is removed from the muffle furnace and allowed to cool in a desiccator for 25 minutes. The weight (W2) of the crucible after incineration is then measured.

[0021] Ash content is calculated using the following formula: Ash content (%)=(W2-W0) / (W1-W0)×100 It is calculated as follows.

[0022] In the present invention, as the first wheat flour, wheat flour A having the following properties is used: (1) an average particle size of 200 μm or more and 400 μm or less, and a bulk specific gravity of 0.6 or more and 0.8 or less.

[0023] The average particle size of wheat flour A may be, for example, in the range of 250 μm to 350 μm, or in the range of 280 μm to 320 μm. The bulk specific gravity of wheat flour A may be, for example, in the range of 0.65 to 0.75, or in the range of 0.7 to 0.75. As wheat flour A, a single variety may be used, or two or more varieties of wheat flour selected from a group consisting of multiple varieties may be used in combination, or a mixture thereof may be used. Among these, wheat flour A is preferably wheat flour derived from durum wheat.

[0024] Generally, when a cumulative curve is calculated with the total volume of the powder mass taken as 100%, the particle sizes at the 10%, 50%, and 90% points of the cumulative curve are called D10, D50, and D90 (μm), respectively, as characteristic values ​​that represent the particle size distribution of a powder. In particular, D50 is the cumulative median diameter and is generally used as one of the indicators for evaluating particle size distribution. A value that combines these is (D90-D10) / D50, and the closer this value is to 0, the sharper the particle size distribution.

[0025] In the present invention, the characteristic values ​​representing the particle size distribution of wheat flour A are not limited, but preferably satisfy the following conditions (1) to (3), for example. (1) The cumulative volume of particles with particle diameters of less than 148 μm is less than 20% by volume. (2) D50 is 250 μm or more. (3) The relationship between D10, D50, and D90 is expressed by the following formula. (D90-D10) / D50 < 1.0

[0026] The condition (1) above is more preferably less than 15% by volume.

[0027] As for the condition (2), it is more preferable that D50 is 300 μm or more.

[0028] The present invention uses, as the second wheat flour, wheat flour B having the following properties: (2) average particle size of 50 μm to 75 μm, crude protein content of 8.0% to 10.0% by mass, and ash content of 0.4% by mass or more.

[0029] The average particle size of wheat flour B may be, for example, in the range of 50 μm to 65 μm, or in the range of 53 μm to 60 μm. The crude protein content of wheat flour B may be, for example, in the range of 8.0% to 9.0% by mass, or in the range of 8.5% to 9.0% by mass. The ash content of wheat flour B may be 0.45% by mass or more, or in the range of 0.45% to 0.60% by mass. As wheat flour B, a single variety may be used, or two or more wheat flours selected from a group consisting of multiple varieties may be used in combination, or a mixture thereof may be used. In particular, wheat flour B is preferably wheat flour derived from wheat raw materials including Australian wheat, and is preferably 60 parts by mass or more. The content of Australian wheat per 100 parts by mass of the raw wheat of wheat flour B may be 70 parts by mass or more, or may be 80 parts by mass or more.

[0030] Wheat flour A having the properties described in (1) above and wheat flour B having the properties described in (2) above can be produced by standard wheat flour production methods (conditioning, grinding, sieving, and purification). Therefore, they can be obtained by ordinary flour milling techniques without the need for special treatments such as granulation, oil addition, air classification, heat treatment, chemical modification, and the like.

[0031] The flour composition of the present invention is a flour composition consisting of flour A having the properties described in (1) above and flour B having the properties described in (2) above, and can be obtained by mixing flour A and flour B.

[0032] In the wheat flour composition provided by the present invention, the mass ratio of wheat flour A to wheat flour B is preferably 5:95 to 50:50, more preferably 10:90 to 30:70.

[0033] As mentioned above, D10, D50, and D90 (μm) are generally used as characteristic values ​​to represent the particle size distribution of powders. In particular, D50, which is the cumulative median diameter, is generally used as an index to evaluate particle size distribution. A value combining these is also used, (D90-D10) / D50, and the closer this value is to 0, the sharper the particle size distribution.

[0034] In the present invention, the characteristic value representing the particle size distribution of the wheat flour composition comprising wheat flour A and wheat flour B is not limited, but preferably satisfies, for example, the following conditions (1) to (3). (1) The cumulative volume of particles with particle diameters of less than 148 μm is 40% by volume or more. (2) D10 is less than 20 μm, D50 is 50 μm or more but less than 200 μm, and D90 is 100 μm or more but less than 400 μm. (3) The relationship between D10, D50, and D90 is expressed by the following formula. (D90-D10) / D50 ≧ 1.8

[0035] As for the condition (1), the cumulative volume of particles having particle diameters of less than 148 μm is more preferably 60% by volume or more, and most preferably 80% by volume or more.

[0036] The wheat flour composition provided by the present invention has the above-described structure, which reduces scattering during handling. Therefore, it can be suitably used, for example, to coat ingredients in the composition and cook them to obtain cooked foods. Furthermore, cooked foods of good quality can be obtained using the composition.

[0037] Cooked foods to which the wheat flour composition provided by the present invention can be applied include, but are not limited to, deep-fried foods such as fried chicken, fried chicken, and tatsuta-age, deep-fried foods, microwave-cooked foods, oven-cooked foods, etc. In addition, ingredients for these foods include, but are not limited to, meats such as pork, chicken, and beef, seafood such as shrimp, squid, horse mackerel, and sardines, vegetables such as sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, onion, and burdock, and mushrooms such as shiitake mushroom, maitake mushroom, and shimeji mushroom.

[0038] In this specification, the term "sprinkling ingredients" may have the same meaning as that generally understood by those skilled in the art. It is not limited to this, but for example, the flour composition can be poured into a container, followed by the ingredients and stirring, allowing the flour composition to adhere to the ingredients, and then sweeping off any excess flour composition. Alternatively, the ingredients can be poured into a container, followed by the flour composition and stirring, followed by sweeping off any excess flour composition, allowing the flour composition to adhere to the ingredients. Furthermore, the flour composition can be adhered to the ingredients by pouring the ingredients onto a belt conveyor and sprinkling the flour composition from above. The amount of flour composition adhered to the ingredients can typically be in the range of 3 to 30 parts by mass, or 5 to 20 parts by mass, of the flour composition per 100 parts by mass of the ingredients. [Example]

[0039] The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to examples, but these examples are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. <Flour> Table 1 shows the properties of each wheat flour used in the test.

[0040] [Table 1]

[0041] [Test 1: Example 1-1 and Comparative Examples 1-1 to 1-2] An investigation was conducted to determine whether mixing wheat flour A with any other wheat flour would reduce the amount of scattering of the resulting wheat flour composition. <Measurement of scattering amount of wheat flour composition> 1 to 3 illustrate a method for measuring the amount of scattered wheat flour composition using schematic diagrams showing the measuring process.

[0042] Specifically, as shown in Figure 1, 500 g of the flour composition was placed in bowl 2 of mixer 1, and bowl 2 was set in mixer body 3. As shown in Figure 2, the bottom and sides of mixer 1 were covered with black construction paper 4. Mixer 1 was operated, and rotating shaft 5 rotated, causing a beater (not shown) to stir the flour composition placed in bowl 2. After operating at second speed for 1 minute, as shown in Figure 3, the construction paper covering the bottom and sides was partially opened, and the flour adhering to the outer side and sides of bowl 2 was lightly tapped several times to drop down, and the flour composition adhering to the construction paper was recovered and weighed. The "amount of scattered flour" was measured multiple times (3 times) and the average value was calculated.

[0043] <Preparing fried chicken> Chicken thighs were cut into pieces weighing 35 to 40 g each. The cut chicken thighs were mixed with a seasoning liquid and soaked for 30 minutes. The seasoned chicken thighs were then coated with the wheat flour composition in an amount of 10 to 15 g per piece. The chicken thighs coated with the wheat flour composition were then deep-fried at 170°C for 5 minutes and 30 seconds to prepare deep-fried chicken pieces, which were then evaluated.

[0044] Four panelists evaluated the samples according to the following criteria, and the average score was calculated. <Evaluation criteria> (exterior) 5: Moderate golden brown, very pleasing appearance 4: Moderate golden brown, pleasing appearance 3: Appearance with a golden brown color 2: Slightly whitish, undesirable appearance 1: Quite whitish, undesirable appearance (Texture) 5: Crispy and very pleasant texture 4: Crispy, pleasant texture 3: Slightly crispy texture 2: Not very crispy / slightly crunchy texture 1: Not very crispy / crunchy and hard

[0045] [Table 2]

[0046] The wheat flour composition of Example 1-1 had a smaller amount of scattering than those of Comparative Examples 1-1 and 1-2, and the appearance and texture of the fried chicken were good. On the other hand, the wheat flour composition of Comparative Example 1-1 had a relatively good appearance and texture of the fried chicken, but the amount of scattering of the composition was larger than that of Example 1-1. Furthermore, the wheat flour composition of Comparative Example 1-2 had a large amount of scattering of the composition, similar to that of Comparative Example 1-1, and the appearance of the fried chicken was good, but the texture was not good. From these results, it was revealed that wheat flour B is preferable as the wheat flour to be mixed with wheat flour A.

[0047] [Test 2: Example 2-1 and Comparative Examples 2-1 to 2-2] An investigation was conducted to determine whether mixing wheat flour B with any other wheat flour would reduce the amount of scattering of the resulting wheat flour composition.

[0048] Specifically, a wheat flour composition was prepared according to the formulation shown in Table 3, and the other conditions were the same as in Test 1, and the amount of scattering was measured, and fried chicken was prepared and evaluated.

[0049] [Table 3]

[0050] The wheat flour composition of Example 2-1 had a smaller amount of scattering, and the appearance and texture of the fried chicken were also good compared to Comparative Examples 2-1 and 2-2. On the other hand, the wheat flour composition of Comparative Example 2-1 produced relatively good appearance and texture of the fried chicken, but the amount of scattering of the composition was greater than that of Example 2-1. Furthermore, the wheat flour composition of Comparative Example 2-2 produced relatively good appearance of the fried chicken, but the texture was poor, and the amount of scattering of the composition was as great as that of Comparative Example 2-1. From these results, it was revealed that wheat flour A is preferable as the wheat flour to be mixed with wheat flour B.

[0051] [Test 3: Examples 3-1 to 3-3 and Comparative Example 3] An investigation was conducted to determine the ratio of wheat flour A and wheat flour B that would best suppress the amount of scattering of the resulting wheat flour composition.

[0052] Specifically, a wheat flour composition was prepared according to the formulation shown in Table 4, and the other conditions were the same as in Test 1, and the amount of scattering was measured, and fried chicken was prepared and evaluated.

[0053] [Table 4]

[0054] The wheat flour compositions of Examples 3-1 to 3-3 had extremely low amounts of scattering compared to Comparative Example 3. Among them, the wheat flour composition of Example 3-3 had the lowest amount of scattering. On the other hand, when the amount of scattering of the wheat flour composition and the appearance and texture of the fried chicken were comprehensively evaluated, the wheat flour composition of Example 3-2 had the best results. On the other hand, the wheat flour composition of Comparative Example 3 had poor results in terms of the amount of scattering of the wheat flour composition and the appearance and texture of the fried chicken compared to Examples 3-1 to 3-3.

[0055] [Test 4: Examples 4-1 to 4-3 and Comparative Examples 4-1 to 4-2] Table 5 shows the characteristic values ​​of the average particle size and particle size distribution of wheat flours A to E used in Tests 1 to 3.

[0056] [Table 5]

[0057] As shown in Table 5, wheat flour A satisfied the following conditions (1) to (3). On the other hand, wheat flours B to E did not satisfy the following conditions (1) to (3).

[0058] (1) The cumulative volume of particles with particle diameters of less than 148 μm is less than 20% by volume. (2) D50 is 250 μm or more. (3) The relationship between D10, D50, and D90 is expressed by the following formula. (D90-D10) / D50 < 1.0 In other words, wheat flour A, which simultaneously satisfies the above conditions (1), (2), and (3), was shown to have a particle size distribution that is biased toward the coarser side and also has a sharper particle size distribution than general wheat flours (B to E).

[0059] Table 6 shows the characteristic values ​​of the average particle size and particle size distribution of each wheat flour composition when two types of wheat flour are mixed.

[0060] [Table 6]

[0061] As shown in Table 6, the wheat flour compositions having the formulations shown in Examples 4-1 to 4-3 satisfied the following conditions (1) to (3). On the other hand, the wheat flour compositions having the blends shown in Comparative Examples 4-1 and 4-2 did not satisfy the following conditions (1) to (3).

[0062] (1) The cumulative volume of particles with particle diameters of less than 148 μm is 40% by volume or more. (2) D10 is less than 20 μm, D50 is 50 μm or more and less than 200 μm, and D90 is 100 μm or more and less than 400 μm. (3) The relationship between D10, D50, and D90 is expressed by the following formula. (D90-D10) / D50 ≧ 1.8 From the results of Tests 1 to 4, it was considered that the wheat flour composition consisting of wheat flour A and wheat flour B, due to the above-mentioned properties, can realize significant improvements in workability (prevention of dust scattering) and product quality (appearance and texture) compared to when each ingredient is used alone. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 1. Mixer, 2. Bowl, 3. Mixer body, 4. Black construction paper, 5. Rotating shaft

Claims

1. A flour composition for use by sprinkling ingredients, comprising flour A having the properties of (1) below and flour B having the properties of (2) below, wherein the mass ratio of flour A to flour B is 5:95 to 50:

50. (1) Average particle size of 200 μm or more and 400 μm or less, bulk density of 0.6 or more and 0.8 or less. (2) Average particle size of 50 μm or more and 75 μm or less, crude protein content of 8.0 mass% or more and 10.0 mass% or less, and ash content of 0.4 mass% or more.

2. 2. The flour composition according to claim 1, wherein said flour A is flour derived from durum wheat.

3. 3. The flour composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the wheat flour B is derived from a wheat raw material containing Australian wheat, and the content of the Australian wheat in 100 parts by mass of the raw wheat of the wheat flour B is 60 parts by mass or more.

4. The flour composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flour A satisfies the following conditions (1) to (3): (1) The cumulative volume of particles with particle diameters of less than 148 μm is less than 20% by volume. (2) D50 is 250 μm or more. (3) The relationship between D10, D50, and D90 is expressed by the following formula: (D90-D10) / D50<1.0

5. The flour composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flour composition consisting of the flour A and the flour B satisfies the following conditions (1) to (3): (1) The cumulative volume of particles with particle diameters of less than 148 μm is 40% by volume or more. (2) D10 is less than 20 μm, D50 is 50 μm or more and less than 200 μm, and D90 is 100 μm or more and less than 400 μm. (3) The relationship between D10, D50, and D90 is expressed by the following formula: (D90-D10) / D50≧1.8

6. A method for producing a cooked food, comprising coating an ingredient with the flour composition according to claim 1 or 2, and cooking the ingredient coated with the flour composition.

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